Paul Klee - Paroles Sans Raison

Selected and translated by Pierre Alferi, "Paroles sans raison" is a collection of poems by the German painter Paul Klee.

Although little known in France, his poetic work is both prolific and magnificent. This book, accompanied by a dozen or so reproductions, is the first bridge to this verbal world that has remained in the shadow of painting for too long.

Assembled and translated by Pierre Alferi, "Paroles sans raison" is a collection of poems by the painter Paul Klee.

For the time being, we offer a modest selection of some twenty poems, written between 1901 and 1939. An arbitrary choice, over the years, by a reader and translator of poetry who soon became convinced that this was more than just a second, minor work, something other than a violin d'Ingres: a poetic mass, growing, admittedly, in the shadow of a plastic work, but without equivalent in the twentieth century, except perhaps in the great poetry of Jean/Hans Arp, his younger by seven years. - Excerpt from the translator's note

The book is divided into several sections: Opening with the collection "Paroles sans raison", which rectifies the total absence of Paul Klee's poems published in French. Cleverly designed graphics provide access to the original text on the same page, without distracting the reader's eye.

The translation note, written by Pierre Alferi, cleverly situates this book in the history of Paul Klee's painting, writing and life.

At the end of the book, a full-color booklet features a dozen reproductions, providing the reader with a brief overview of the evolution of Klee's paintings.

Paul Klee (1879-1940) was a German painter renowned for his highly expressive work. A teacher at the Bauhaus school, he was unfortunately one of the leading figures of what the Nazi regime described as degenerate art. Persecuted, he ended his life in Switzerland.

Pierre Alferi, born in 1963 in Paris, is a French novelist, poet, and essayist. A professor of the history of literary creation at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, he has published some twenty works and is regularly involved in public politics.
"La sirène de Satan" is a collection published in 2019 by Hourra.

French
May 2022
Format: 11x18 cm - 48 pages
Techniques: Offset color
Paper: Pop'set Citron & Munken
Printing: Présence Graphique, Monts
Translation: Pierre Alferi
Proofreading: Marie-Bénédicte Majoral
Graphic design: Olga Boudin & Chloé Vanderstraeten
ISBN : 978-2-491297-03-9

© Éditions Hourra